In the End
by Trollmela
Summary: "You have to throw it in." It should have been Dwalin's voice, yet it sounded like Thorin. Bilbo didn't dare look. "Why? It's mine! It's just a ring," Bilbo argued desperately. (AU)
1. Chapter 1

_This story was written as Bilbo & Thorin friendship but you could read it as slash. There are deep feelings and ramblings due to "ring insanity".  
_

* * *

The fire far below him burnt his eyes. It was hot, so hot and bright, and Bilbo was close to succumbing to exhaustion. He was finally here, at the end of it all, and yet he could not bring himself to part from the band of gold in his hand.

"You have to throw it in!"

It should have been Dwalin's voice, yet it sounded like Thorin. Bilbo didn't dare look. His voice had been there more and more often lately, and at times Dwalin had only been able to pull him out of his daze by shaking him.

"Why? It's mine! It's just a ring," Bilbo argued desperately.

"Remember the Arkenstone? Was that just a stone?"

"Drop it," another voice urged him, and Bilbo startled when he saw Kili standing right next to him, in his face, the way Thorin wasn't. He looked so real that Bilbo forgot that he was dead.

"How – Kili – but-"

"Remember what you told us? Hobbits value family, good food and comfort. You don't care about gold and jewels like we dwarves!"

"Remember the Shire!" That was Thorin again.

" _Bilbo!_ Do it!"

And that was definitely Dwalin. He was wrestling with three orcs at once, but for a big, sturdy warrior he was a lot quicker than they. Suddenly, the creature Gollum appeared. He slipped past the fighting group and ran straight at Bilbo. His lips were pulled back in a furious snarl, and Bilbo drew Sting.

"Thief!" Gollum shouted.

"Don't become him. Don't become like me!"

Bilbo looked away from Gollum despite the danger to finally see Thorin. Like Kili, he might as well have been alive. Surely ghosts shouldn't look like they were of flesh and blood?

"You'll disappear," Bilbo protested weakly.

The dwarf smiled sadly. "As long as you remember me, I'll never be gone."

"Do it!" Kili pleaded. Gollum shrieked as a rock tripped him. Bilbo wouldn't look away from Thorin's eyes.

"For the Shire," Thorin prompted him.

"For Erebor," Bilbo replied. "For you."

The Ring slipped from his fingers and into the fires of Mount Doom.


	2. Chapter 2

Bilbo fell with it not long after.

Mere moments after Bilbo had dropped the Ring, Gollum jumped onto his back. But with the Ring gone, it no longer bothered with Bilbo and blindly sprung off the hobbit's back to follow the Ring into the lava.

Thus unbalanced, Bilbo fell over the ledge with a fearful cry. His fingers blindly searched for a place to grip and found it against all odds, and he held on with all his might. That, however, was not very much.

He had forgotten a lot during his journey to Mordor, until finally even the details of his once famous adventure had left him. Now, hanging clear off a rock, he remembered a very similar experience when they had crossed the Misty Mountains. Bilbo remembered also that this time there was no Bofur, and no Thorin, to give him that final boost and get him to safety again.

"Grab my hand, burglar!"

"Dwalin," Bilbo gasped. He did not hesitate in grabbing the proffered hand, and was quickly pulled up, although his shoulder popped painfully.

"Quickly now, Bilbo! Run as fast as you can, this mountain is set to blow up around our ears!" Dwalin pulled him along, and they ran out of the vulcano. The lava was already rising up, and rocks rained down upon them.

Bilbo didn't have a thought left in his head, but Dwalin had enough sense to seek refuge on higher ground. There they crouched down and Dwalin drew Bilbo's cloak up over his ears and brought him in close.

"You did well, burglar. You did it," Dwalin told him, and months ago Bilbo would never have believed the dwarf capable of showing such emotion.

His face was a strange mixture of joy and grief, and Bilbo wondered why Dwalin looked so pained until he registered the great noise around them and the lava flowing down the mountain. Bilbo tried to rise but Dwalin held him fast.

"We have to get out of here!" He cried out, but Dwalin shook his head.

"Nowhere to go, Master Baggins. We knew that."

Unfortunately, the dwarf was right. The spreading lava was too rapid to be outrun.

Bilbo's eyes teared up, but he didn't resist Dwalin's firm grip.

"I saw Thorin. And Kili. They were there with me," he said.

Dwalin only nodded. He had known that Bilbo had seen Thorin's shade at times.

"Do you think hobbits can go to Mahal's Halls?"

Dwalin hesitated, but finally grumbled: "I think, after saving the world, you should be able to have and do whatever you like."

* * *

 _The ending appears tragic, but, like in The Lord of the Rings, I did intend for Eagles to arrive and take them to safety._


End file.
